Brilly Eldon Fachruddin, a student of Universitas Muhammadiyah Malang (UMM), succeeded in innovating an environmentally friendly energy source. Brilly brought up the idea of an energy-efficient vehicle along with his nine team members by developing a solar powered electric bicycle. “We improve our seniors’ ideas by stabilizing the inputs. If the previous generation has not succeeded in stabilizing the incoming power, thank God our team successfully discovered and solved the problem,” he explained.

The solar electric bicycle will receive energy from the sunlight that enters the panel and goes directly to the battery, then, the engine, and to the controller that will connect the dynamo to the throttle. “From sunlight connected to the controller to stabilize the input current into the battery, while from the battery, it will be channeled to the engine via the controller. This is to connect between the dynamo and the throttle so that the current discharged by the battery can be stable,” Brilly explained.

The trials were deliberately carried out during the night when there was no sunlight or any input current. They use sunlight that has been charged during the previous day. As a result, the bike successfully traveled up to 12 km. The trip consumes three power bars out of the maximum five.

Electricity generated from sunlight not only generates bicycle currents but can also power the headlights of the bike. Apart from that, Brilly and the team also altered the design of the bike by moving the pedals which were originally placed on the rear wheels, changed to the front so that they work properly. Also, the machine is not easily damaged.

The benefit is to reduce the use of motorized vehicles, electricity-saving, and utilization of solar power. In long-term use, the bike is also more efficient, especially for doing short range trips. “I hope that the innovation can be our endeavor in protecting the earth from pollution from motorized vehicles,” he explained. Furthermore, Brilly and his team expected their innovation to be universally used. They planned to develop products so the machine can be applied to various bicycles.

The idea of the electric bike also attracted the Head of the UMM Industrial Engineering Laboratory, Rahmat Wisnu Wardana. “They even did a trial from Sawojajar to Campus III without UMM. That’s interesting. Moreover, in general, electric bikes can be operated by using a charge that connects to electricity, while this one uses solar power,” he concluded.